British government must stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia: Corbyn

Rasa - Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that the British government must stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia to help bring an end to the brutal war in Yemen.

News ID: 440680

Date: 24 September 2018 - 19:42

RNA - Speaking at a vigil for those affected by the Saudi aggression against the impoverished nation, Corbyn said on Sunday evening that a Labour government would go to the United Nations a day after taking charge of the office to present a resolution to end the bloody conflict.

He called the humanitarian disaster in Yemen “a human-made condition,” which was brought about by “the bombardment of the people of Yemen by Saudi forces and, I’m sad to say, some of those weapons are provided by Britain.”

“A child dying of cholera, people being killed in schools, people being killed at wedding parties, that is abominable and unnecessary and utterly wrong in the 21st century,” he added.

The veteran politician said that the United Nations had been established to bring wars to “a conclusion by a political process.”

“The members of the security council have a very special responsibility in this. We cannot run away and we cannot hide,” he added. “If it were a Labour government Emily (Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary) would be at the UN tomorrow presenting a resolution on how we would bring about an end to that conflict.”

“This Government has failed, failed in its duty to resent a resolution to the UN that can bring about an end to this conflict,” he stated.

According to Press TV, Saudi Arabia and its partners launched a war on Yemen in March 2015 to reinstall the former Riyadh-allied government. The military aggression has killed some 15,000 Yemenis.

More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

Several Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

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